Seward fishing in mid July

[delta dude]

Am taking a cruse-land trip to Alaska next July. We are looking into flying in a couple days early to go fishing. Am thinking of renting a car in Anchorage and driving to Seward. Wonder if anyone has any info on the fishing for Halibet and Salmon there mid July. Also any recomendations on a charter .

[Down Deep]

You can get Halibut anytime out of Seward, Silvers (coho) start congregating out in the ocean in mid-july, but you will have to go way out. There is not much river fishing in Seward. There is an ample supply of charter boats available in the center of town. Seward is a nice town to spend a coupe of days to do the tourist thing and well worth the time.

In mid-July the reds (sockeye) should be running hard on the Kenia and Russian Rivers. Could be a king run and early silver run going then as well, but I'm told that varies from year to year. I take an annual trip and arrive either 1st or 2nd week in August and have always hit the Reds and Silvers. On even years the pinks are running as well. We also go to Nilnilceck and to charter for Halibut. I found the halibut to have a lot better average size in the Cook Inlet.

[traveler]

everything DD said...except I've heard, and had limited experience with, the avg size of cook inlet butts getting smaller these days...I'd bank on a halibut only (not a combo trip) out of Seward or Homer being your best bet. Take a look at crackerjack charters webpage (seward). Lots of big fish out by Montague island...but it takes an all day charter to get to them.

[N7709K]

For the past couple years the silvers or cohos in Seward have been late. They come to the mouth of the bay in the middle of July, but are either fished out or gone by the first week of August.

[Down Deep]

Traveler, This year we were out by Montague twice (mid-Aug.) and the biggest butt we caught was 25 pounds. Out of Ninilcheck the catch ranged from 50 to 35.

Delta Dude - The nice thing about a trip to Montague Island or even into the Gulf of Alaska is the access to other fish like Ling Cod and Rockfish. As Traveler said it is a long way out to Motague, 3 hours one way. The charters are also surcharging fuel. One charter I contacted wanted $50 per person added to $225 per person charter rate. This is definitely the time to negotiate rates. Some boats will, and some won't.

[traveler]

DD; bad luck?? I just haven't seen/heard much for decent fish coming off the beaches in the last few years, though I'm sure some still do. We fished with a captain out of Homer last time up (out of Homer) who liked to fish small spots; humps, ledges, etc...where we never saw another boat. He liked to fish lead head jigs w/curly tails, had an underwater camera as well and it was very cool! Didn't get anything big, but much more fun that fighting that darn cook inlet tide with 4 lb. weights:)

[Down Deep]

Traveler. I've never been to Homer. We are going to staying in Cooper Landing the first week of August 2009. How long does it take to get down there from Cooper?

[WaveWacker]

I was just up there and without looking I'd have to say about 45min - 1 hr from Cooper to Soldotna and 1hr/15min - 1.5hrs from Homer to Soldotna. Never stayed but absolutely loved the Cooper Landing area.

[traveler]

Yup, thats close enough:) I hear ya on Cooper landing....heaven on earth:) Homer is worth the drive; coming into view of the whole kachamak (sp?) bay area is breathtaking, and theres some darn good fishing to be had down there as well.